


On My World, It Means Hope

by colormyheartred



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Emma is Supergirl, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:31:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7843243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colormyheartred/pseuds/colormyheartred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She was sent to this planet by her parents to save her from the destruction of her home planet, to be honorable and do her family and their home justice by protecting Kal El from the dangers of the world. But, things don't always pan out. Especially when one plays with destiny and the future." an Emma as Supergirl AU featuring Captain Swan and Captain Cobra Swan</p>
            </blockquote>





	On My World, It Means Hope

She was sent to this planet by her parents to save her from the destruction of her home planet, to be honorable and do her family and their home justice by protecting Kal El from the dangers of the world.

But, things don’t always pan out. Especially when one plays with destiny and the future.

She landed, instead of _with_ her cousin, twenty-two years _after_ her cousin, and somehow, between the time he’d handed her off to the Swan’s, to now… things have fallen to pieces.

The Swan’s were supposed to keep her and love her, but instead they betrayed her, sending her into the system, and she ended up bouncing from foster home to foster home in a search for some permanency, instead only finding herself feeling lost and alone, more than ever before, in a world that wasn’t meant for her.

Neal was her first and only mistake. Henry, on the other hand, was not.

He’s good, her kid. He keeps quiet when he’s being spoken to, he does his chores, he eats his greens, and gets to bed on time.

He’s one of the only people that know about who she is, who she is from birth- Emma Zor-El- and they’ve talked about her powers, but she doesn’t let her son see her using them. Once, she took him flying, but that was risky and they were almost seen. Though, getting to see him smile so wide was far more than worth it.

Emma works as a reporter at one of the most respected news journals in the city. Well, she’s  _supposed_ to be a reporter. So far, all her job has entailed is getting coffee orders and delivering prints.

She’s been working this dead ended job for about a year now and if it weren’t for her son, she’d move again. But she can’t keep moving every time she gets antsy or anxious. She has to think about her kid and his relationships.

He actually has friends here and he’s doing well in school, and she knows he’s at the age where it’s important to have normalcy, so she absolutely wants to give it to him, especially since she  _never_ had it, not after leaving home.

Her desk mate Graham smiles at her teasingly, his eyebrows raised, when she rushes into the office a few minutes late. Her ponytail whishes back and forth, and her limbs frantically move in order to get to Regina Mills’ office before the woman herself arrives fashionably late.

“Miss Swan, how nice of you to finally show up,” Regina says dryly.

Emma pulls on a tight smile. “I’m sorry. Traffic was insane.”

Sometimes she regrets not just flying to work. It could avoid _so_ much drama.

She sets the cup of coffee down on Regina’s desk and straightens up.

Regina looks up at her, leans back after taking her coffee, and takes a deep breath. “You’re excused. Make sure those prints get to the new guy.”

Emma nods and grabs the folder off of Regina’s desk before leaving the office and heading to her desk to set her stuff down.

“So…” Graham speaks up, spinning in his chair. “What are you doing tonight?”

She raises her eyebrows, her heart stuttering in her chest. “Well, actually, I have a date.”

He looks incredulous, leaning forward. “You do.” He raises an eyebrow. “Emma Swan, Miss I’d- Rather- Die- Alone- Than- Deal- With- Heartbreak, is going on a _date_.”

She feels a little blush rising on her neck and she sinks down into her chair with a sigh. “ _Yeah_. And I’d prefer it if you didn’t rub it in. It was Elsa and Anna’s idea.”

Graham hums. He locks his fingers together behind his head as he leans back in his chair. “ _Matchmaking_ , really?”

“Listen, Graham,” Emma says as she starts her computer. “I’m doing it as a favor. They said they knew someone.”

He grins wryly. “And what does Killian think about this blind date?”

She gives him a dirty look that he laughs at, dropping forward again. “You’ve not told him? Oh, this is grand. He’ll love that.”

“Shut up,” Emma grumbles. “Killian Jones doesn’t need to know anything about my dating life.”

Graham lifts an eyebrow. “Well, it isn’t as if he’s tried to get you to go out with him consistently for the past year or anything.”

Her heart stutters at the mention. She swallows a soft breath and shakes her head. “What can I say? I don’t date Europeans.”

..

After work, Emma goes onto the roof of the office building and stares up at the sky, her heart soaring and her fingers twitching by her side.

She’s come up to the roof on occasion, to just get some air after Regina starts getting on her nerves.

Today, though, it’s just about _her._

She’s kind of kept her flying at a minimum lately. Probably because a flying _person_ is easily noticed, whether it’s day _or_ night.

When she was younger, living in foster homes, sometimes her guardians would make it impossible for her to breathe when they’d argue in the other rooms. She’d fly those nights, just trying to find some peace, and she’d set down on an empty beach so she could watch the waves. They’re the most calming to her, somehow, and she still wishes she could live by the sea even today.

It’s interesting how adulthood and becoming a mother changes things.

Emma nibbles on her lip as she steps closer to the edge of the building, keeping her eyes set on the traffic below.

It wouldn’t hurt, she thinks, if she just flew, _one time_.

She gets a little giddy, tearing her hair from its ponytail, tossing her body forward and allowing her senses to surge her upward.

Emma laughs as the wind blows through her hair. She goes higher than the buildings, heading toward who knows where, just enjoying the feeling of _flying_ again.

Emma turns around and heads back to the office after she does a circle around the entire city a handful of times.

She settles onto the roof and breathes an airy laugh, feeling lighter than she has in several years. Flying always does this to her and it always has. From the moment she found out that the yellow sun allowed her flight, it’s been a way of escape for her, even if she doesn’t use it nearly as much as she would like.

She rakes her fingers through her wind blown hair and tosses it back up into a ponytail before heading to the stairwell.

When she reaches the downstairs sidewalk, a secret smile on her lips, she finds herself actually thinking about using her abilities to do as much good as her cousin does on a daily basis.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt.

As she’s walking home, she keeps her hearing open, listening for any signs of trouble, and she finds it. She hears a kid calling for help.

Emma moves as fast as she can without being looked at funny and eventually disappears into an alley so she can take flight.

When she finds the kid, he’s sitting on a tree branch, looking absolutely scared out of his mind. He’s all alone in his backyard. Apparently his parents haven’t heard him just yet, or maybe they’re not home, but regardless, he’s stuck in a tree.

She smiles a little, because he reminds her of Henry when he was younger, except for the glasses he sports.

“Hey,” she says as kindly as she can, “do you want some help getting down?”

He stares at her with shocked eyes and just nods in response. She smiles, flying in closer to take him into her arms. She helps ease him to the ground and he turns to her with his expression still bewildered and amazed.

“Woah,” he breathes.

Emma laughs. “Don’t climb too high next time, okay, Kid?”

He bobs his head and Emma smiles again. She glances around, and finding that no one’s watching, she pushes up off of the ground and heads for home.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt at all.

..

“Hey, you know you’re my guy, right?” Emma asks, settling down on the couch beside her son.

Henry smiles at her. “I know.”

“And that means I trust you,” Emma informs him. She studies him and he raises his eyebrow at her, as if he knows she’s about to say something foolish. “And I trust your opinion.”

He smirks. “What are you trying to say, Mom?”

Emma rolls her eyes and tosses her head to the side a little. “I was thinking… maybe I should take a page out of my cousin’s book, you know? Try… using my powers?”

Henry’s smile widens and his face lights up. “You want to be like Superman? _Cool!”_

She’s quick to reel him in. “I was _just_ thinking about it, Kid. I’m not going to start fighting bad guys right away.”

Henry laughs. “C’mon, Mom. This is… this is, like, what you’re _supposed_ to do. You have  _superpowers_. You can’t just keep that to yourself!”

Emma rolls her eyes and pinches him in his side, making him squeak as he laughs some more.

“Okay. I just wanted to see if it was okay with you. If you thought it was a good idea. I mean we kind of just got settled here and-“

“Mom,” Henry interrupts, his hand pressing against hers. “Trust me. This is your greatest idea yet.”

She laughs. “Yeah, well, don’t get too excited.” She lifts her hand to ruffle his hair and they both turn their attentions to the TV screen. “Elsa’s coming over in a few minutes. She’s gonna watch you while I go out tonight.”

“Okay. Cool.”

Emma takes a soft breath and leans in to kiss her son’s cheek. “I gotta start getting ready. Red or blue?”

“Red,” he says automatically, flashing her a smirk as she walks toward her bedroom. Henry furrows his brow and she stops at his question. “Who are you going out with?”

“Don’t know,” Emma admits on a breath. “It’s a blind date.”

Henry looks wary. It’s been a few years and she knows he might not quite be over the last boyfriend she’d had- Walsh.

Emma gives him a look. “Kid, don’t worry. I have my superpowers, remember? And anyway, Elsa knows the guy. He’s an investment banker or something.”

Henry bobs his head. “Just… be careful.”

Her heart warms at her son’s concern and she smiles before heading into her bedroom to change.

By the time she emerges in a tight red dress and tall black heels, her clutch in her hand, Elsa is laughing with Henry on the couch.

They’ve known each other since Emma had given birth to Henry, had become fast friends while Emma was working at a diner that Elsa frequented.

Elsa pops up from the couch and grins at her. “Hey, Emma. You look gorgeous.”

Emma rolls her eyes. “Thanks.”

Henry gives her a thumbs up that has both of them laughing and Emma sets her hand on Elsa’s arm.

“Thanks for doing this, Elsa.”

Elsa shakes her head, hitting her hands against her thighs. “I am always more than happy to watch him. He’s always so well behaved, I doubt we’ll have any trouble.”

Emma nods and looks over at Henry again. “Love you, Henry. Be good.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

When Emma looks to her friend again, Elsa frowns slightly, looking worried, and Emma stills.

“What is it, Els?”

“Nothing,” Elsa insists, shaking her head. “It’s just that Anna’s flying to England tonight so she can meet up with Kristoff. Wedding planning.” Elsa smiles a little. “And it’s her first time flying alone.”

“Oh,” Emma frowns. “I’m sure everything will be fine. More than fine. Planes are pretty safe, you know.”

Elsa chuckles. “Yes. I do.” She glances toward the door. “You should get going. I don’t think your date will like it if you’re late.”

Emma sighs a little before giving Elsa a parting hug. “Thanks again for doing this. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You owe me one,” Elsa teases.

Emma laughs over her shoulder as she heads to the front door of her apartment.

..

The guy is an asshole.

He has no interest in being on the date with her, instead spending time staring over at some other girls at the bar that they met up at. He excuses himself ten minutes into the date, if she can even call it that, and she just rolls her eyes and looks over at a TV while she has a sip of her drink.

She hears the idiot leaving with some other woman and she hums under her breath. It’s _so_ like her to show up to a blind date and to expect to actually connect, isn’t it?

The sports program is interrupted by a breaking news bulletin that makes her pause. A plane is going down. A plane heading to England.

England, where Elsa’s sister Anna is heading.

It _might_ be Anna’s flight.

And Emma can fly. And she’s strong. She can _save_ this plane. Not only that, but she has the  _responsibility_ to save it.

Being the only person who can save it and not doing anything would leave an ache in her bones and she knows she wouldn’t be able to live with the pain of not doing something.

When she finds the plane, her heart is racing hard in her chest, and she puts herself under the wing, boosting it into the air as best she can, helping keep it balanced.

The plane is flying low, over a channel of water, and she knows it’ll be safest to try and land it somewhere, but she’s not exactly practiced, and the plane is heading straight toward a busy bridge.

She groans, “ _Really_?”

Emma uses all of her muscles to push the plane upward- and _God_ it’s the heaviest thing she’s ever held in her _life_ \- and over the bridge, easing it down into the channel of water as soon as she possibly can.

As soon as it’s done, she feels relief flood her veins and she takes a few gulps of air as she pushes herself out of the water and onto the wing, bracing her hands on her hips.

Now _this_ is something she could get used to.

..

She’s all over the news not twenty minutes after she leaves the wing of the plane, and in the morning she’s all over the internet and in the tabloids and pretty much everywhere she looks.

It makes her giddy. _She’s_ the one who saved all of those people, and no one knows _who_ she is.

Elsa tells her that Anna _was_ on the plane that she saved, though Elsa isn’t aware that Emma is the one that did the saving. Elsa is in awe and is _so_ thankful regardless and Emma’s heart is warmed by the fact that she was able to save so many people’s spheres of influences as well as their own lives.

Henry just stares at her, looking as if he’s about to burst, and when Elsa leaves, they both excitedly squee and jump around the living room before crashing down onto the couch to watch the news with a pint of ice cream between them.

She goes to collect Henry from school after she leaves work and stands outside of his classroom door, a small smile on her lips as she calculates her next steps, because honestly she’d be a fool if she didn’t keep up with this new, exciting, _right_ acceptance of her powers and abilities.

She knows her son will be _all_ in for that. Ever since he was small, when she’d told him who she was, he’d asked her with wide brown eyes and excited smiles if she’d ever use her powers for him one day.

Henry’s last class of the day is English and his teacher is Killian Jones.

Aside from being a teacher at Henry’s school, Killian Jones is a member of their apartment complex, one whom she’s spoken to on a few occasions in the elevator, with thick tension and deep, suggestive glances and innuendo laced comments.

He’s always been attractive, but was ever more so during the elevator ride when she’d first met him, with his dark looks and his rumbling laughter, his English accent sweet to her ears.

He’d been kind to Henry and offered to take them to the museums a few times, and she’d accepted, amused when he knew loads of information, the warmth in the middle of her chest only growing with time.

But she didn’t know he was a teacher until she’d accidentally run straight into him on Henry’s orientation day of the new school year.

She’d been helpless, fumbling through her bag looking for a pen, while trying to keep an eye on Henry, failing when she crashed into the man with a dazzling grin and enchanting blue eyes, his hair brushed neatly and his checked shirt tucked in, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He wore a tie, too, and she found him absolutely _ridiculous_ , but he’d caught her when she almost fell back and she’d been breathless, eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks as she tried to think of words to say.

Since then, she’s kept him at a distance, trying to not be interested in the man, because typically, relationships end in heartache and she already has Henry. Henry’s enough for her now, and Killian is Henry’s _teacher_.

The class comes rushing out as soon as the bell rings, but Henry isn’t amongst the first, and when the flood seems to end, she realizes that Killian Jones has kept her son after, or perhaps her son has kept his _teacher_ after, as he tends to do quite a bit.

She heads to the door, tentatively glancing inside, finding Henry standing at the front with his teacher grinning as they talk animatedly. It makes her smile, because it’s nice to see Henry bonding with a man, even if that man flirts with her every chance he gets.

And maybe part of that is because that first day, he’d offered her his phone number, wondering if she might want to see him later, and she’d told him _no_. He’d just smirked, all stupid good looks and eyes only on her, enough to make her breath catch in her throat, and had tilted his head. _“Well, perhaps you should keep it anyway.”_

Killian’s eyes meet hers when he happens to glance over and he smiles warmly, shifting toward her more. “Ah, Swan, a pleasure to see you again.”

Emma tilts her head to the side, watching as the pair draws closer to her. “Good afternoon, Mister Jones.”

“It’s Killian after school hours, love,” He speaks the words with a little roll of his eyes, as if he’s tired of trying to get her to say his given name.

She presses her lips together in a line and sucks in a breath. He’s far too attractive for his own good.

“Mom, Killian was telling me about this really cool fair this weekend. Can we go?”

Emma winces a little, giving her son what she’s sure is a pathetic look. “But I thought we were going to sleep in and eat junk food and watch old movies. Like we always do.”

Henry shrugs. “Or we could eat junk food with Killian at the _fair_. And ride rides and have _fun_.”

Emma snaps her gaze up to Killian and he just smirks. “You’ve got my number, should you decide that you’d like to.”

She rolls her eyes and holds her arm out. “Okay, Kid, let’s go home. I think we’re due for a trip to the diner tonight.”

“Awesome!” Henry cheers, then bids Killian goodbye, winning a grin and a hand to his hair, before he scampers out into the hall.

Emma turns to follow, but Killian stops her, his hand warm against her wrist.

She looks at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“Do they have the Olympics in space?” She narrows her eyes at him and she’d be lying if she said her heart rate didn’t skyrocket. He grins a touch wider, squaring his body and lowering his voice as he leans in, “Yesterday, I had a doctor’s appointment and I saw you. Flipping off of that building.  _Flying_.”

Her breath catches in her throat and she feels sick to her stomach, opening her mouth to question him, but he holds up his hand.

“Not to worry, Swan,” he says teasingly, “I won’t tell anyone of your heroics last night, either. But it’s, how would your lad say it, pretty bloody _cool_.”

She rolls her eyes. He’s such a child.

Henry sticks his head in and furrows his brow thoughtfully. “Hey, Mom, can Killian come with us to the diner?”

And maybe it’s because he told her that he knows her identity, but when she looks at Killian and sees honesty, _feels_ honesty, she thinks letting him into her life isn’t that much of a mistake as she’d once thought.

She shrugs. “If he wants to.”

Killian smiles wide. “I’d _love_ to.”

..

After Henry’s tucked into his bed and sound asleep, Emma curls up on the couch with a glass of wine and her laptop, the television on low.

She’s researching Superman’s previous attempts at saving the world, trying to figure out how she might be able to follow in his footsteps and get started as a _hero_.

Emma sips on her wine and then sets her laptop to the side, rising to her feet, pacing her apartment. She finds herself standing at the window, looking out at the city below.

She can hear a lot of things. Sirens and horns and talking… and a scream.

Her eyes widen and she bites down on her lip.

 _Should she_?

She hears another scream and decidedly heads toward her bedroom, shoves her feet into some boots, and finds a dark hoodie that she pulls over her head. She grabs her keys and her phone, then hurries upstairs to the roof after locking up.

She hears the woman begging, pleading, and she takes flight, finding the group of gang members in an alley, beating up the innocent woman.

Emma gets to work immediately, swooping in and grabbing the woman, setting her up on the roof of a building.

“Stay here.” She tells her pointedly. “I’ll be back.”

All of her knowledge of fighting comes from when she was young and living in the group home where she’d have to defend herself or be bloodied and bruised, so she feels rusty as she’s surging down again, worried she’ll fail at her task of knocking these men down.

She easily roundhouse kicks one of the men in the face while she’s dodging a knife another one points at her. She sucker punches one in the gut with such force that he topples over, pain contorting his features. The third man she kicks in the chin after he attempts to make a random grab at her leg, and he ends up with a bloody forehead.

Her strength is a little overwhelming for even her, and she stands over them proudly, breathing in deep.

“You do anything like this again and I’ll find you,” she tells them, her voice hard.

The men whimper and push back, as if she’ll do something to further harm them, and she smiles smugly before pushing herself into the air to save the woman from the roof.

She sets the woman down at her apartment complex and is met with thanks on top of thanks.

Emma just shakes her head and exhales. “Try not to get into any trouble, okay?”

“Okay,” she says, closing her eyes on a small smile. “Are you- were you the one that saved the plane?”

Emma hesitates, stepping back, clenching her hands into fists by her sides. “I was just doing what I had to.”

And she takes flight, soaring high above the buildings, searching for home in the sea of lights and noise.

When she gets back into her apartment, she’s breathless and excited. She _saved_ someone tonight.

And the thing is, this is who she is. This is who she’s always been, but she wasn’t willing to accept it out of fear, before.

She can’t help but think her parents would be proud. Her mother, especially, who had smiled at her, cupping her cheeks as they stood in the shuttle bay, as she told her about all of the wonderful things she would do with her future.

And she aches again, for the first time in a long time, because she _misses_ it.

She misses _home_.

So maybe if it’s the closest she can get to home, in being different like her cousin, she should keep using her abilities. Maybe she should embrace who she is, once and for all.

..

“Supergirl,” Henry says, raising his eyebrows at her as he reads off of the newspaper.

They’re sitting in the kitchen and she sighs, slumping her shoulders.

“I’m not a _girl_. I don’t get why they think putting that spin on it even works.” Emma reaches for the syrup and gives her pancakes a bath. “I mean, Kal El is a _man_ and he’s Super _man_.”

Henry shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s better this way. Makes it harder to figure out who you really are.”

Emma has to smile at her son’s optimism.

He slices into his pancakes and stuffs a forkful into his mouth.

“So are you gonna fight crime now? Are you gonna do more stuff?”

She takes a soft breath. “Well, I guess. But first, I think I need an outfit. If I’m going to be flying around, deflecting bullets, fighting crime, I’m going to need to look the part, right?”

“Yeah.” Henry beams at her. “After breakfast, can we work on it?”

“Sure, Kid.” Emma laughs. She watches as he happily munches on his pancakes and her chest tightens. “Hey, you know that I love you, right?”

Her son nods. “Yeah, I know. I love you too, Mom.”

She looks down at her plate when he takes a gulp of his orange juice.

“I’m not indestructible, Henry,” she says softly, looking at him again, “but I promise I’ll do everything I can-“

“Mom,” Henry interrupts, “do you really think anyone’s going to have kryptonite? _Here_?”

“Kal El did warn me,” she says on a shrug. “But I guess it’s not anything I should worry about, right? I’m not going anywhere as long as I have you.”

Henry’s smile spreads. “Yeah. You have _me_.” He looks at his pancakes and then at her, getting a little mischievous glint in his eyes. “And Killian.”

She gives her son a pointed look. “Killian is a _friend_. You know that.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know, Mom. You should’ve seen how he was looking at you when we were at the fair.”

Her heart flutters at the memory of it all. It had been _fun_ , spending time with Killian at the fair. They’d eaten fatty foods and wandered around. Killian had won Henry a few trinkets at the games.

And, yes, she might have taken his hand on the ferris wheel, but it was just because she was irrationally afraid of the rigging of the machine whenever he would move, and absolutely _not_ because he was pointing out sites in the city from way up above in a way that had her longing for his touch.

“Kid-“

“Sorry,” He laughs. “I won’t meddle in your _love_ _life_.”

It isn’t as if she hasn’t noted Killian’s racing heart rate every time he notices her, because she definitely has. It’s just that she’s not from this planet and relationships are difficult to begin with, much less relationships where one of them is an actual alien with crazy superhuman abilities like flying or freeze breath or mega strength.

Emma gets up from the table when she’s finished eating and Henry eagerly joins her, actually taking her dishes from her before she can get any further.

“Go find something to wear.”

She pauses for a moment to laugh, “You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?”

He bobs his head. “Yep.”

Emma just shakes her head and walks out of the kitchen, heading for her bedroom.

It takes her awhile to find something that will work and when she steps out of her bedroom in a skin-tight blue top with her belly button showing and super short shorts, she already knows how her son will react.

He’s sitting on the couch, his hands pressed together between his knees, and he twists his lips as he stares at her.

“Mom, I don’t think that outfit’s gonna work.” Henry states, giving her a little shake of his head.

She sighs, looking down at her outfit. “Well, me neither, Kid, but it’s the only bright red and Superman blue that I have. It’s kind of… the brand.”

She grumbles to herself. Freaking Kal El. He just _had_ to pick the brightest colors imaginable, didn’t he?

“Don’t worry,” Henry tells her. “I think Killian knows a guy.”

Emma sighs.

Maybe her son and the man that lives a few doors down talk a lot more than she thinks they do on their early morning walks to school. He’s probably dropped hints to her son about _knowing a guy_ just because he knows about her true identity.

“Of _course_ he does. Your teacher knows a bit too much for his own good.”

“He knows you like onion rings with your grilled cheese,” Henry adds, reaching over for one of the newspapers talking about Superman that she’s compiled over the years. And she knows her son is _still_ on operation get Mom and Killian together (he calls it Operation: Penguin, because he’s been super into Animal Planet lately and found out they mate for life) but _honestly_.

She hates that he does know so much. They probably spend too much time with Killian for her own good.

“That’s exactly what I meant.” Emma mumbles. She spins around and heads back into her bedroom to put on something more comfortable for a lazy Sunday with her son.

“Do you want me to call him?” Henry calls loudly.

Emma grimaces, but sighs in consent. “Okay. Yeah. Call him. Just- tell him I’m trying to find a Halloween costume or something.”

..

Killian knows a guy. Of _course_ he does.

He comes to her door with an arched eyebrow and a cocky smirk, tilting his head at her. “So you’ve decided to make a business out of it, have you?”

She would like to use her heat vision to burn a hole into his skull, but she settles on growling under her breath while she clenches her hand into a fist by her side.

“Shut up. Do you have something for me to try or not?”

His smile spreads and he holds up a hanger. She takes it from him and allows him into her apartment, going straight back for her bedroom.

She hears Henry and Killian chatting happily, their voices lilting, and the telltale sign of laughter, and it is enough to make her close her eyes as she leans back against her bedroom door, her new suit on and ready for action.

Killian is one of the few people to know about who she is, and he’s the first one that didn’t leave or disown her for it. He actually wanted to know more, actually bothered learning about her cousin on his own time and discussing it with her over coffee one morning while Henry got ready for school, and not in the judgmental way.

Maybe Killian Jones is better for them than she keeps assuming he is.

Emma takes a deep breath and heads out into the living area, her hands by her sides and her lip caught between her teeth.

Her costume is blue and red, just like Superman, and she even has the symbol proudly displayed on her chest. It fits her perfectly and the reminder of her home world makes her feel a touch homesick, though she finds it difficult to stay that way for too long when Henry’s excited voice hits her ears and Killian’s presence on it’s own is enough to heat the apartment for a week.

“What do you think?”

The two look at her and she finds that Killian’s eyes are warmer, his jaw slightly agape, and his entire physique completely and utterly wrecked by the appearance of her in red and blue.

“It’s _awesome!_ ” Henry cheers, jumping a little on his heels. “You have a cape and _everything_!”

She laughs when her son comes toward her and moves her attention to Killian, whose smile makes her heart skip a beat.

“You look stunning, Swan.”

She hates that she feels like she does at his words, because Killian’s supposed to just be a _friend_ , and, well, it isn’t fair that he knows about who she really is, because it just makes the connection between them even stronger.

“It’s a pretty great costume,” Henry agrees, his fingers playing with the hem of her cape. He meets her eyes and winks at her not so subtly. “You’ll kill it on Halloween.”

With a soft laugh from the back of her throat, Emma looks up at Killian again. “Thank you, Killian.”

He nods. “Anything you need, love. I’m here.”

..

She and Henry set up a police scanner in the living room and the first thing they hear is about a bank robbery. Henry gets excited, raising his eyebrows and grinning from ear to ear.

“ _Mom_. A _bank_ robbery.”

She tilts her head at him. “I don’t know, Kid.”

“You’re bulletproof!” Henry is begging her now and she sighs, nodding.

“Good point.” She rises from the couch and goes to change, emerging mere minutes later with her heart racing excitedly. “Okay. Where is it?”

After Henry gives her the location, she makes quick time of getting to the roof, and even faster time of getting into the air, locating the spot, and dropping to the pavement outside of the bank with an Earth shaking thud.

There are criminals standing outside of the bank, their guns already firing at her, but she just keeps calm and walks straight on ahead, her head held high and her gaze pointed.

She stops them, crushing their guns with her bare hands, and she sees fear in their eyes even before the cops finally show up.

Emma takes off as soon as they do, having effectively knocked a few of the gunmen unconscious by thrusting them into the wall.

When she returns to Henry, he has this excited look on his face as he points at the TV. “You’re on TV! And you look _awesome_!”

They do this for another few hours. They listen to the scanner, hear about crime in their city, and Emma goes flying, saving innocents and using her abilities to their strongest extent.

By the time Emma gets home, she’s tired out from all of the energy she’s expelled, and she and Henry head over to the diner for some dinner before getting back home.

The newspapers love her. Regina raves about Supergirl constantly, asks for people to look into her background, and tries to figure out a way of contacting this mysterious crime fighter for an interview.

It gives plenty for Emma to do, so she’s not stuck on coffee and print duty any longer, instead busy with actual work.

She props up a camera and captures a picture of herself in the heat of saving the day once, and it lands her a steady job: find Supergirl and take her pictures. Regina is actually _impressed_ with her for once.

She and Henry laugh because of it over milkshakes that night at the diner.

When Henry goes to sleepover at his friend Avery’s one day in the middle of the week a few weeks after her reign as Supergirl begins, Emma finds herself with nothing to do.

So, she decides that she’ll have a listen to the police scanner, and, as luck would have it, or not, there’s a hostage situation at a bank. _Perfect._

..

The hostage situation becomes something difficult to manage.

She ends up outnumbered fast and she does her best to protect the innocents, but since she hasn’t exactly had to do something like this before, she ends up _kind of_ destroying the bank in the process of trying to save people and fight off the idiots with guns.

She’s famished by the time she gets the hell out of there. The police show up and they’re pissed at her for what she did to the building, but at least all of the civilians are okay and safe, without much damage to their bodies, right?

She comes back to her apartment and realizes as she’s stepping toward her door that she completely forgot to go to the store and that all she has left are fixings for food she doesn’t want to eat.

What she wants now is meat and potatoes, not Fruit Loops and two days past its expiration date OJ.

Emma nibbles on her lip and runs a hand through her hair before walking to Killian’s door and quickly rapping on the wood.

She begins to regret it, but he opens the door before she can retreat and just change out of her outfit and head to McDonalds or something.

He grins at her, lifting an eyebrow. “Ah. So you’ve called on me at last.”

Emma smiles a little. “Do you happen to have hamburger?”

Killian releases a laugh. “You know what, Swan, I do.”

She enters his apartment when he pulls open his door for her and sighs. Though she feels good, after saving all of the hostages, she’s kind of frustrated with herself because of what happened to the building.

His TV isn’t on, and he appears to have been just starting to prepare himself dinner by the looks of his kitchen. So, he doesn’t know what she did. Not yet, anyway.

He enters the kitchen and claps his hands together.

“So what did you do? Save a kitten from a tree? Stop a building from collapsing in on itself?”

She would laugh, but instead she shakes her head. “Just the opposite, actually. A building caved in _because_ of me.”

He furrows his eyebrows at that, turning from his fridge with a package of hamburger in his hand. “ _Really_?”

“Yeah,” she sighs. She looks down at her hands and tilts her head to the side when she meets his gaze again. “But I saved twenty hostages, so maybe that makes up for it.”

Killian shrugs. “I suppose it might.”

Soon, they’re sitting at his table and she’s trying her hardest to not appear like she’s a pig while she eats, and he’s telling her about his English class.

“Henry’s the best one,” Killian informs her. “He listens and he asks questions. He’s always got great papers, too.”

She hums, popping a fry into her mouth. “I bet.”

Killian grins and takes a bite of his burger, licking his lips when he swallows. He reaches for a napkin and wipes off his hand, crumpling the white paper in his palm.

“So… why’ve you _really_ come tonight, Swan? I don’t think it’s because of the food.”

Emma looks at him hesitantly and sucks in a breath, shaking her head. “Henry’s sleeping over at his friend’s house tonight and I wanted someone, who _knows,_ to talk to about what happened.”

His gaze softens a little and she feels her heart racing, hears his, too, and it makes her stomach twist.

“What you did was heroic,” he tells her. “A bit reckless, but it’s not as if you’ve done something like that before, right?”

Emma shrugs. His words do help, but not as much as she’d like.

“Perhaps we could get you started at the gym. You should work your muscles more.”

Emma smiles a little. “Yeah. That might be a good idea.”

A few moments pass as they stare at each other, the tension in the air thicker than it’s ever been between them.

“You know, I think Henry might like someone to talk to as well. Sometimes he gets close and then doesn’t. He respects you quite a bit, love.”

Emma takes a deep breath. “I know he does.” She stares at Killian. “Is this… am I a bad mother? If I keep doing this superhero thing is that going to ruin him or something?”

Killian knits his brow inward and shakes his head. “No. Swan, if anything, this has given him hope. Hope that heroes exist and that good wins. That’s what the ‘s’ stands for, right? The coat of arms, from your planet, it stands for hope?”

She glances down at the symbol on her chest and nods weakly, not trusting herself to speak.

He reaches over and hesitantly takes her free hand, looking her in the eyes as she begins to completely fall in love with the way his warm hand completely covers her own.

“It’s just been the two of you for a long time, hasn’t it?”

She steadies her breathing after it catches and she nods. “Yeah.”

Tears begin to well up in her eyes and she hates it, but Killian’s hand anchors her, and she pulls on a thin smile for him.

“He left because he was scared,” Emma tells him on a breath. “He found out about who I really am and he didn’t-”

She stops herself and Killian frowns, rising from his chair to stand beside her. He drops to his knees and looks up at her, all honesty in his sweet blue eyes.

“I’m not afraid of you, Emma,” he says softly. “I think you should continue to embrace this. And I’d like to help, if you’ll have me.”

Emma’s heart squeezes tight and she reaches down to cup his cheek, her fingers trembling slightly as she finds them going into his hair.

He stares at her as if she is a shooting star and she wonders if the light in his eyes will ever fade.

Probably not, her heart tells her.

And she thinks with her heart then, too, as she’s leaning in and pressing her lips against his, her eyes closed and her heart racing in her ears.

She can hear his heart and it’s pounding just as hard, so she allows herself to live in the moment that’s been building from the very moment she met him.

He moves a little and cups her face between his hands as he rises a bit, keeping level with her as his tongue slides into her mouth so flawlessly.

He kisses _so_ much better than she’d even dreamed.

Maybe it’s because this has been long delayed, or maybe it’s because of the weight of his words still ringing in her ears, but she stands to her feet and he backs her into his couch, both of them fumbling onto the cushions with their hands everywhere, mouths parting for a breath a few times.

She’s content with his nose digging into her cheek until he turns more, taking better control of the kiss. She moans a little at the feeling of complete delight and pleasure that washes over her.

She hasn’t had this in a very long time and he’s doing such a _damn_ good job that she can’t help herself.

When they part, he presses his forehead against hers, and she inhales deeply.

“That was…” He pauses.

She can’t help the smile that fills her cheeks. “A long time coming.”

Emma finds his eyes then, and they’re dark, his smile spreading as soon as he sees hers, and she thinks he looks absolutely _wrecked_ , even more than she feels.

He laughs softly, under his breath, and she joins him for but a moment before his hand, strong and warm, is on her cheek, and he’s kissing her all over again, in a deep, toe-curling kind of way, that has her thinking she’s flying.

..

Emma smiles when she stands at the door of his classroom, peeking in to find that he’s gathering up his things with Henry talking his ear off about _something_.

He glances over at her and smiles, a little twinkle in his eyes.

She gets butterflies at the expression on his face, so much lighter than normal, and she feels as if this is _home_ , somehow. She has her son and she has Killian, and with their help, she can be who she was born to be, not cover it up with denial or doubt.

“Hey Mom!” Henry cheers.

She grins at him and ruffles his hair when he comes clamoring forward. He wraps his arms around her middle and smiles up at her.

“Hey, Kid. What’s going on?”

Henry’s smile spreads. “I know that Killian knows,” he says quietly. “So does that mean…”

Emma feels her cheeks heating up and she rolls her eyes. “It doesn’t mean anything yet.”

Her son narrows his eyes at her and then pulls away. Emma looks over at Killian when he approaches them, his bag on his shoulder.

“So, what are you doing today? The diner?”

“Nah,” Henry speaks up, “let’s go home and save the day.”

Killian chuckles and lifts his eyebrows at her.

She shrugs and watches the back of her son as he goes toward the door of the classroom, excitement and childishness in his every step.

He reaches up and scratches at his ear. “Erm… I may’ve told him this morning.”

She laughs. “Yeah. I figured.”

Emma leans in and kisses his cheek, her fingers easily latching onto his. “Let’s go home and save the day.”

He stares at her like she’s precious, as if he can’t believe she’s holding his hand, and a nervous little smile fills his cheeks.

“As you wish.”

..

“So when are you going to take me flying again?” Henry asks, swinging his legs as he sits at the bar of the kitchen island.

Emma gives him a look as she hands him a glass of juice. “I don’t know. You sure you could handle that, Kid?”

“Um, _yeah_!” Henry laughs.

Killian chuckles from his spot beside her son. He has the police scanner on the countertop and he’s fidgeting with the dials.

“Beam me up, Emma,” Killian mumbles, as if to himself, on a happy little lilt.

Her eyes go wide. “Oh, _no_ , you did _not_!”

He looks like a complete dork when he stares back at her, grinning wide and eyebrows high on his forehead. “I did.”

Henry can’t stop laughing, his giggles becoming contagious after she returns from putting the juice in the fridge.

“I think that’s what we should call this, Mom,” Henry says, coming down from his giggle high. “Operation: Scotty!”

Emma snorts, laughter uncontrollable. “ _Seriously_? I’m Supergirl, not Captain Kirk!”

Henry and Killian both laugh along with her and it’s then that she realizes that this _is_ home. It might be new and it might be rough, but it’s _home.  
_

And she’ll fight _anyone_ who tries to take her home away from her.


End file.
